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Receiver of Many
Receiver of Many is the first novel of the Receiver of Many series by Rachel Alexander. Plot Prologue At the end of the Titanomachy, Hades Aidoneus receives the underworld as his lot and is betrothed to Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Demeter is heartbroken over Zeus’s abandonment and, unwilling to lose her daughter too, swears that no Olympian will have Persephone. Aidoneus, who is no longer an Olympian, swears to return for Persephone when she comes of age. Olympian Meeting Centuries later, a fully-grown Persephone, referred to as Kore by her mother, lives with Demeter in Eleusis. Demeter is quite overprotective of her daughter, often treating her as a child and sheltering her. Because of this, Kore knows very little of the world around her. On the full moon, Demeter is required to go to Olympus for a meeting with the other major gods and it is there that Aidoneus makes an appearance to ask Zeus for Persephone. After Demeter angrily protests and storms out, Zeus gives Hades permission to take Persephone and has Eros shoot him, believing his brother would need assistance seducing his betrothed. Aidoneus manages to catch the arrow, but it still has a potent effect on him. In Eleusis, Kore discovers a nearby wedding and stumbles upon the couple making love in the wedding tent. When Demeter returns, Kore asks her if she will ever marry only to get her hopes crushed by Demeter. A wistful Kore retires and is visited in her dreams by Aidoneus, who is hoping to introduce himself. Upon discovering this, a horrified Demeter takes Kore to Nysa to be guarded by Artemis and Athena. Maiden No More Demeter is desperate to protect her daughter. Upon remembering what the nymph Daphne did to escape Apollo, she travels to Nysa to turn Kore into a tree. In the underworld, Aidoneus’ mind is in turmoil after discovering his feelings for Persephone. While he is visiting her a second time, Hecate catches wind of Demeter’s plan and warns him. Hades is forced to kidnap Kore from Nysa and have sex with her, as she would need to remain a virgin for Demeter’s plan to work. Demeter searches for Kore in Nysa only to discover that she is too late. Zeus confronts and berates Demeter for trying to keep their daughter from her destiny. When he tells her to focus on her duties to the mortals, Demeter strips the earth of its fertility and states that she will only return it when Kore is by her side again. Life in the Underworld Because of her abduction, Persephone is reluctant to trust Aidoneus and as a result, their relationship remains exclusively sexual. Aidoneus is in love with her and wants their marriage to progress. He seeks the advice of his minister, Thanatos, who points out that Aidon is sheltering Persephone like Demeter did. Per Thanatos’ advice, Hades decides to show Persephone the realm they both govern. After their tour, Aidoneus teaches Persephone how to utilize the ether, a method of travel used by the gods. She inadvertently opens a passage to Tartarus and discovers Merope, the nymph wife of Sisyphus, who was inadvertently sent to Tartarus in his place. Persephone is addressed by the one of the Hundered Handed Ones, who refers to her as Praxidike, and she orders them to have Merope released. After the incident, Persephone becomes even more curious about her divine role, and requests for Hades to take her to Tartarus. Concerned for her safety, however, Aidon refuses. That night, as she learns more about him, Persephone grows closer to Aidoneus and she begins to open up to him more. However, she discovers the golden arrow the next morning, which Aidon kept on his person for safekeeping. Persephone’s frustration with Aidon’s sheltering and lack of straightforward answers, tied with her doubtfulness of his feelings for her leads her to accuse him of wanting a bedmate rather than a queen. They have a very heated argument, which ends with the two having sex and Persephone angrily kicking Aidoneus out afterward. They cease contact for three days. Telesterion In the upper world, the winter Demeter has caused has worsened; she is weakened by loss of worshippers and is forced to wander the earth under the guise of an elderly priestess. She has attempted to enlist help from the water deities, but to no avail. When she returns Eleusis, Demeter is accepted into the Telestrion by King Celeus and Metaneira, who still make offerings to her. They enlist her help with healing their last surviving children, Demophon and Triptolemus, whom Demeter grows attracted to. Once Triptolemus, who already suspects Demeter’s true identity, is healed, he shows her a greenhouse which he had been procuring for years. Knowing that Triptolemus’ knowledge of agriculture must be shared, Demeter makes him immortal. Demeter is about to deify the severely weakened Demophon, but is interrupted by a panicked Metaneira, who believes she is trying to kill her child. When Metaneira invokes Persephone’s name to curse her, an enraged Demeter reveals her true identity. Celeus and Metaneira beg for forgiveness and, needing offerings to regain her power and save Demophon, Demeter restores fertility exclusively to Eleusis and has the Telesterion converted into her temple. Weeks later, mortals throughout Hellas turn their worship in favor of Demeter and she grows stronger. However, she silently mourns over the loss of Kore, believing that she is Hades’ unwilling prisoner. As Triptolemus comforts her, Demeter finds out about his feelings for her and upon learning he is the reincarnation of Iasion, her former lover who was murdered by a jealous Zeus, Demeter forms a romantic relationship with him. Merope and Reconciliation Back in the Underworld, Nyx, the goddess of night, and Hecate investigate the pomegranate grove that has been growing in the underworld, something that was thought to be impossible. They realize that together, Hades and Persephone can create life and their role in the cosmos might be bigger than everyone originally thought. Aidoneus believes Persephone is unhappy and plans to send her back to Demeter but Hecate and Nyx convince him to make amends with her instead. After she is convinced by Hecate to make amends as well, Persephone receives a newly released Merope for questioning. Merope reveals that Sisyphus has been sentenced to Tartarus by Zeus and was planning to gain immortality and overthrow the gods to avoid this fate. Sisyphus began acquiring scrolls from guests he summoned, and later killed, for information on the gods and immortality. After Sisyphus raped and impregnated his niece to destroy his brother and usurp his kingdom, Merope realized his true intentions and attempted to foil him. Sisyphus threatened their children to prevent her from disobeying him ever again. Sisyphus was eventually diagnosed with tooth worm and knowing he wouldn’t live much longer, Sisyphus opted to use his wife as a means to prevent his death. Sisyphus drugged and incapacitated Merope and had her built into a funeral pyre in the center of the agora. Sisyphus burned on the pyre with Merope and stole her immortality, inviting the entire kingdom to watch his “resurrection”. He then placed a glamour on her to fool the judges. Merope also reveals that the gods are worshipped by numerous cultures under different names and that they have been worshiping Persephone for a long time, despite her only being in the underworld for less than a month. Hades, who was looking to make amends with Persephone, enters the room. Having heard Merope’s whole story, he offers to give her the waters of the Lethe to ease her pain and let her join the shades of Asphodel. Merope declines and Persephone elects to have Merope as her maidservant. Persephone assigns Hypnos and Thanatos, the latter of whom takes interest in Merope, to capture Sisyphus. When they leave, Hades expresses his wishes to reconcile with her. When they head to his private chambers, Persephone, aware of how marriage works in the world above, is worried that Hades is going to demand sex from her, and as his wife she will not be allowed to refuse. (chapter 18) Aidoneus reassures her that he only wishes to make amends and rebuild her trust in him and swears a Stygian Oath that he will answer all of her questions straightforwardly. Hades explains everything: the reasons behind why he kidnapped her, why he had the golden arrow in his possession and how it affected him, how he feels about Persephone. Upon discussing their marriage, Persephone expresses her concerns, believing that their union would be no different than those in the world above. Though it takes a while, Hades eventually manages to assure her that she is his equal in all things. After they have reconciled, Hades finally agrees to take Persephone to Tartarus, but only once he has trained her to properly defend herself. Tartarus After weeks of training, Hades deems Persephone ready to venture into Tartarus. When they arrive, Aidoneus is attacked by the Keres, who mistake him for Kronos. Through a telepathic conversation with Gyges, one of the Hundred-Handed Ones, Persephone commands the Keres to cease their attack and recognize her husband as their king. Persephone questions the Hundred-Handed Ones about her role in the cosmos. They reveal that Persephone was prophesied to rule the underworld from the beginning and it is through his betrothal to her that Hades received the underworld, much to his surprise. Persephone then requests to see the Titans, namely Kronos. Despite Hades’ apprehension, he relents and they travel to the deepest part of Tartarus, where the Titans are imprisoned. Kronos, knowing the world above has been thrown out of balance because of the Winter, states that his release is inevitable. To further illustrate his point, he forces Hades and Persephone to watch a traumatizing vision and gives them an ultimatum: free him and receive ruler ship over the heavens, or allow him to escape and destroy the world and the gods. Persephone, though shaken, refuses to free Kronos. She and Hades then take their leave of Tartarus. After Tartarus The trip to Tartarus has taken a heavy emotional toll on both Aidon and Persephone. After a meeting with Hecate and Thanatos, the former planning to convince Demeter to end the Winter and the latter informing them of Sisyphus’ capture, Hades and Persephone retire to their rooms. Persephone notices how distant Hades has been since their return from Tartarus and believes he blames her for the lot he was dealt. It turns out Hades is concerned that since the underworld is technically Persephone’s, he has nothing to offer her and that she will only see him as her consort. Persephone assures him that she wants what he wants: to rule by his side as his equal. Later on, Hades heads down to the throne room and builds a throne for Persephone, so she can sit by his side as his queen. Characters References External Links Rachel Alexander's Website Receiver of Many on Amazon Category:Browse Category:Novels